New Hope
by Kyrian Mikaelson
Summary: When tragdedy strikes, Joel Goran moves with his son to New Orleans during the reign of Marcel Gerard. Can they live peacefully or will he be drawn into a world of supernatural he had long since started avoiding? Takes place mainly during season 4 of Originals and will probably be au. Definitely a after season 3 of Saving Hope.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or The Originals. If I did certain stuff would or would my have happened. (Hello Elejah, Klaroline and Jalex.)

Chapter 1

Joel Goran looked up from 9 month old Luke as their flight was called.

"Come on then," he whispered to his son as he stood. Like let out some gurgling cooing noises in response, waving his arms at nothing in particular.

He boarded the plain and put his carry on bag in the overhead storage, sitting down and strapping Luke into his own seat securely. Part of him still couldn't believe he was actually here, that this was actually happening. Starting Hope Zion 3 years ago, he didn't think that he'd be flying away with a son, a precious baby boy who had become his life in only a few short seconds.

3 hours later…

Joel carefully lay his son on the bed in the master bedroom sleeping peacefully and piled up pillows around him to make sure he wouldn't roll off the bed. With Luke safe, he started unpacking their clothes into the wardrobe and put a photo album into the draw of his new bedside table, which only took about an hour. The rest could wait until the morning.

Joel stood outside the Tulane Medical Centre where he was due to start work in half an hour. He just had to drop Luke off at the daycare centre and go to the chief if surgery's office to get a list of his patients.

"What the hell are you doing here?" came a man's voice from behind him. Curiosity had him turn to see what was happening, only to find a dark skinned man staring at him with a scowl on his face.

"Excuse me?" Joel asked, confused. The man's scowl only grew angrier as he got closer.

"I said, what the hell are you doing here? You shouldn't even be alive, Elijah, let alone here." The man spat the name out in disgust and Joel pitied the poor guy it was aimed at.

"I don't know who you are or who Elijah is, but I seriously doubt you're supposed to basically admit to killing a guy," he said frowning. Luke shifter slightly in his arms, trying to get a look of his daddy's new friend. Joel held him tighter. The man scoffed, glaring at him.

"You're taking kids now too? You killed Davina, now you're taking some innocent kid? New low Elijah, and whatever you're trying to do, I'm going to stop you." Before Joel could argue, another dark skinned man came up to them, expression darker than the guy who was already confronting him for something he had no clue about.

"How the hell are you still alive?" he snarled at him. Joel was about to reply when he caught notice of the veins underneath his eyes which had started turning red.

'Vampire. Why did I pick New Orleans again? Oh yes, peace and quiet while I raise my son without my fiancé. There goes that.'

"I never died mate. I don't know who either of you are but I'd very much like to take my son," this bit being said with a very pointed look at the first man, "off at daycare and start work, so leave us alone." He used his barely ever actively used mental abilities to persuade them to leave at the same time he said it. The two looked like they might be fighting it for a few seconds, but eventually turned to leave.

Joel sighed and turned back to the hospital, finally going in before those two could come back and decide to kill him for whatever this Elijah did. Something told him it wouldn't take long for them to do just that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or The Originals. If I did, certain things would or would not have happened. (hello Elejah, Klaroline and Jalex. And Rebekah and Elena would definitely have been friends from the start and Kol would never have died in the first place.)**

Chapter 2

 _4 years later…_

Joel stood outside the building waiting as he thought over the past 4 years. So far he had managed to stay out of the supernatural happenings which seemed to occur in every corner of this city, but it hadn't been easy. The two men from outside the hospital seemed to be everywhere. He'd learned their names of course, thought it would be easier to avoid whatever supernatural events they would inevitably try to drag him into if he knew the names of the people to avoid. Vincent Griffith was essentially the Regent of the New Orleans witches – despite the fact that, as far as he was aware, the Ancestors these witches draw most of their power from were no longer connected to the living realm. And Marcel Gerard was actually the King of New Orleans.

Both had approached him after that one day four years previously, and if they thought he hadn't realized they had people try and follow him, they were idiots. Those people they had sent to follow him were actually how he got most of his information about what had happened in the years before his arrival, having discretely picked the information from their minds and sent them on their way to follow who they thought was him but was actually just some random person he'd made them think was him. He had decided not to wipe any memory of him from their minds, not wanting took do the same thing again every time they or someone they knew saw him around the city, but he'd rather not have these people near his son, thank you very much. Luke walked out of the school at half three and Joel him up onto his shoulders as the little boy giggled.

"I've got a surprise for you," he said in a sing song voice.

"Are we going to Rousseau's?" Luke asked excitedly, tugging on his father's hair slightly.

"We're always going to Rousseau's," he said with a grin. "Guess again, Little Prince."

"The park?"

"Nope."

"Movie theatre?"

"Wrong again."

"Hint?" Joel scrunched up his face, exaggerating a thoughtful look.

"I don't think I know anywhere called hint." Luke huffed.

"No, silly," he said in the exasperated tone only children could pull off when they think a parent is being particularly difficult. "Give me a hint please?"

Joel huffed a laugh as Luke tugged on his hair again slightly in minor annoyance.

"I think we should wait until we get there, don't you?" Luke shook his head emphatically, clearing wanting to know what his surprise was now. He leaned over to look his father directly in the eyes with a wide eyed adorable puppy face.

"Please give me a hint daddy? Please, please, please?!" Joel mentally groaned. His son was just like his mother. Alex could get him to cave with just one look too. It was a shame she couldn't be here, the pain in his heart still sharp after the accident 4 years ago rising again at the fact their son would never know his mother.

"OK," he allowed, "one hint." He paused as Luke have him a wide eyed look of excitement. "It's your birthday tomorrow." Luke's little nose wrinkled as he thought it over. His face brightened.

"Do I get to open my presents early?!"

"Maybe you can open one tonight, but not all of them, and not before then. Any other guesses, Little Prince?"

Luke bit his lip, head tilted to the side a bit, before deciding that he didn't have any right now and shaking his head. They got to where Joel parked the car, Joel strapping him in securely, before getting in himself.

10 minutes passed until they reached the bar, Rousseau's, with Luke offering more and more guesses, only to find the door securely locked. Joel frowned to himself as Luke jumped up and down excitedly, babbling about seeing his honorary aunts and uncles again after so long. Joel had completely given in after about 5 minutes and told him his old friends who hasn't seen Luke since he was a baby were coming for his birthday. Josh never closed during the day unless it was booked. Which, to be fair, he had booked it, but everyone was supposed be here before he closed the bar.

For a second he thought about using his telepathy to see what was going on, but brushed the idea from his head, having long since promised (himself, seeing as nobody else knew) that he wouldn't use his abilities on his friends or family, and settled on calling instead.

-TO/SH-

The phone in Kol's hand which he had taken from Josh a few minutes ago started ringing.

 _Joel_.

Kol looked at Josh with a scowl, holding the screen out so it was facing him.

"And who's this then?" he said. "Another one of Marcel's lackeys?"

Josh's eyes widened as he looked at the screen. With the Originals back in town over the past couple of hours, he'd completely forgotten that Joel had booked the place. Oh, he was going to kill him. Then again, given Kol was holding him hostage, Joel might not get the chance.

"Well?!"

"No! He's just a customer!"

Kol gave him a look. "Customers can call the bar on that phone," he said, pointing at the one he could clearly see from where he was standing. "You don't get a customer who calls you on your private number. So tell me. Who. Is. He?" Josh's shoulders slumped, knowing he had to say it. Joel had become his friend over the past few years, despite his hesitation in the beginning due to his uncanny resemblance to the suit wearing Original who had just this morning broken into his house with his sister, and he really hasn't wanted to get him involved in all this. The fact that he was probably standing outside right now, meant that he was probably about to become another piece in this dangerous supernatural chess game. Suddenly, he was grabbed by the throat and pressed harshly against the bar, Kol getting right in his face, vampire visage clearly on show and pretty much one of the most terrifying things he'd ever seen in these circumstances. " _Who is he_?!"

"He's a friend!" Josh exclaimed through the choke hold the Original had on his throat. "Nothing to do with Marcel, Marcel can't even stand the sight of him." Kol released him and stepped back, this time answering it as the phone rang again.

"Josh, finally!" came a male voice over the speaker. "What the hell is going on in there?!" Kol raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to speak. Josh quietly cleared his throat.

"Joel, hey, listen, the party can't –" before he could finish speaking, Kol had rushed over to the door, thrown it almost off it's hinges, and thrown someone across the room.

"There," Kol said with a smirk. "The more the merrier."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or The Originals. Everyone who read the last two disclaimers could tell me what would happen if I did.**

Chapter 3

Joel found himself thankful he had the foresight to take Luke over to Zach and Melanda who were just around the corner before calling again as he pulled himself up from the floor after being thrown into a wall.

'The more the merrier,' he had said.

' _Oh, I'll show you 'merry' mate_ ,' he thought to himself, scowling slightly, as he turned around to face the bastard who threw him across the room who he really wanted to punch in the face. Speaking of which, the face staring at him wasn't so much smug as full on gaping at him in shock. For a second, anyway, then he was suddenly in front of him with a tight grip on his throat which was quickly crushing his trachea, cutting off his breathing, and a seriously pissed off look on his face.

"What the hell kind of trick is this?" he hissed, glaring between him and Josh. Josh grimaced.

"There isn't a trick. I did tell you Marcel couldn't even stand the sight off him…" Joel decided to make them aware, that _yes_ , he was still having his breathing cut off by an apparent douchebag with anger management issues, by transferring his pain directly into his attackers mind, making him feel like he was the one being strangled to death. Kol – as he'd learned whilst in his head – let go with a gasp, stumbling back slightly. Kol recovered quickly and glared at him.

"Sorry mate," Joel said in a half sarcastic tone. "I just didn't like being strangled to death. Or held hostage _. Or thrown into a wall!_ " Speaking of which, now that he was right in front of him…

Joel's fist flew into Kol's jaw, sending him stumbling a bit more.

"Just in case you didn't get that, that was for throwing me into a wall. I got two cracked ribs because of that." Joel sat down on the chair next to him, just happy that those cracked ribs weren't broken instead. Kol glared at him with half a mind to kill the man, but left him for this second to finish what he started with Josh and snapped his neck.

"You're lucky Davina liked you."

"You didn't have to do that." Kol turned to look at him, studying him, starting to circle him as he did so.

"I did actually." Kol stopped in front of him, leaning in closer. They were completely identical. Put this man in a suit and he would be mistaken for his brother so long as one didn't listen too closely to the heartbeat. Joel met his eyes evenly, except for the occasional glance at his friend lying on the floor with his neck snapped like a twig. "I don't need to explain it to you, nor will I. Now don't move a muscle until he wakes up." And with that, he was out the door. Joel huffed as he got to his feet, kneeling down next to Josh. Clearly, the vampire had expected him to be effected by his compulsion and hadn't even bothered to check.

"Arrogant vampires," he muttered to himself, "always thinking they'll get what they want just through compulsion. What if I was on vervain?" He wasn't, he had no need for it, his telepathy ensured that, but that wasn't the point. Joel picked him up in a fireman's hold after binding his cracked ribs with a spare tablecloth and carried him into a backroom next to the kitchen where a bed was already set up and lay him down, making him as comfortable as a dead guy could possibly be without being permanently dead, before leaving the bar and following Kol's distinct mental signature, ignoring the pain from his ribs for now. He'd managed to stay out of supernatural business – well, mostly managed it – but this time he was too curious to let it go. He needed to see what was happening, needed to see if this would effect his son, because from what he's gathered, when the Mikaelson's came around here, something was about to start. And everyone was always dragged into it.

He caught up to Kol just as the entire Mikaelson family was about to leave only to be stopped by the self proclaimed king of the city as he arrived too.

It almost looked like a standoff, the entire Mikaelson family – minus the kid, obviously, even one who looked a hell of a lot like him, who was probably Elijah, given the amount of times he'd been mistaken for him over four years of living in New Orleans – standing opposite their greatest enemy, Marcel Gerard. It probably would have been fun to watch if it had been a TV show or a movie. But this was not fun for any of them. This was dangerous.

\- TO/SH -

"You shouldn't have come back. Any of you," Marcel said to them.

"That's what family does," Hayley stated. "We fight for each other."

"Yeah, I heard that," Marcel said with a hard look on his face. "Though that didn't really work out for me, did it?"

"Oh, for god's sake, you were never a Mikaelson, get over it!" Kol snapped. "Don't you have a city to run? Vampires to boot out of town?" The last part he said with a hint of a mocking tone. "And of course, a doppelganger to hate for no reason. Met him by the way. Punched me in the face and still breathing. How's that for a bit of mercy?" He ignored the curious looks from his siblings as Marcel stepped towards him only for Rebekah to get in the way.

"If you want to kill one of us, you'll have to kill us all," she told him, still somewhat believing he wouldn't hurt her, even to get to the rest of her family.

"Don't push me Rebekah," Marcel warned her.

"Then get on with it. Let's end this, once and for all."

Marcel rushed towards her to do exactly that, before he seemingly collapsed out of nowhere. Rebekah took a hesitant step forward, but Elijah stopped her with a hand on her arm and pulled her closer towards him and further away from Marcel. Most of them looked at Marcel's body suspiciously, backing away to the car. Kol looked around for whatever could have knocked out Marcel so easily. It couldn't have been Freya, she looked as suspicious and slightly confused as the rest of them. He heard a heartbeat slightly to the side and looked a little closer. There didn't seem to be anyone there, but he could definitely hear them. As he thought that, how brother's doppelganger, Joel, he believed appeared in his line of sight. Which was exactly where he'd been looking. Seemed like this one was more than just a doppelganger if he had magic powerful enough to hide him from an Original's sight.

Joel gestured slightly to tell him to get a move on. Usually Kol would have killed anyone who dared tell him what to do. But this one had just saved his entire family. He supposed he could let it go.

"Does it matter what happened?" he interrupted. "Let's go. I want to meet my niece and spoil her rotten as favorite uncle before Marcel wakes up and tries again." Elijah smirked.

"I think you'll have to settle for second best, Kol. Obviously, I will be the favorite uncle."

\- TO/SH -

Joel sighed as he watched the Originals leave in their car. He smiled as he heard Kol's thanks for his family's safety.

' _You're welcome,_ " he replied, laughing to himself at Kol's shock of his voice in the vampire's mind before picking himself up off the ground and getting to the hospital. He'd best get a second opinion for his ribs. He thought for a second. Screw the hospital today. Charlie was waiting with the others at his place anyway.

 **I was going to have Marcel question why 'Elijah' had been there for four years and was only making his move now, but then he attacked Rebekah instead. Definitely has a mind of his own, that one...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or Originals. Much as I wish I did.**

Chapter 4

Joel shot up in his bed. Something was coming. Coming for his son and they were right outside.

He didn't bother with getting changed as he ran out of the room, half stumbling down the stairs, to get to the front door. It flew open just as he reached the bottom. He instinctively threw the first three men into the opposite wall before he felt a sting in his neck seconds before agonizing pain in his head as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

-TO/SH-

Vincent and Marcel looked into the room to see, not just the four missing kids, but another boy as well, lined up in the room as a witch continued to cast his spell.

"There were only 4 kids reported missing," Marcel said.

"They must have just gotten to the last one."

Add the witch got to the last stages of the spell, Marcel stepped forward.

"Get away from them." A metal pole forced him backwards as he was impaled, and Vincent rushed towards the other witch from behind, knocking him to the ground. The witch looked up at him.

"I know you. Vincent Griffith," he said. Vincent paused, looking confused and slightly worried.

"How do you know me?"

"Because you've been me." Vincent saw one of the boys – the youngest of the lot, he thinks, and slightly familiar – twitch slightly and frowned in confusion. He thought this witch was controlling the kids? "It's happy you're here. It _wants_ you here." Pushing the boy from his mind for the second, he paid more attention to the witch.

"It wants me here? What are you talking about?"

"It's the thing, the thing that resides in this city," the witch stated with a smile. "In all of us. It's in you. Loving you. As it loved your wife." _Wrong_ thing to say. Vincent started hitting the downed witch before casting a spell.

" _Casser les os, casser les os,"_ he chanted before pain enveloped him, causing him to scream until he fell unconscious just as Marcel came up from behind.

"With which eye would you prefer to view your end?" the witch questioned just as Marcel stabbed him in the chest. The witch merely raised his hands and used the same spell he had on Vincent to make him collapse on the ground. "Let it be done," he said and all five of the kids in the room collapsed on the ground, including the boy who had seemed to be waking up, as his spell took effect. Vincent woke just in time to see and grabbed a knife. Getting a hold of the witch, Vincent held the blade to his throat.

"Let them go. You let them go, now," he demanded, pressing the knife harder to his throat.

"Did you think you were unique Vincent? That it had only chosen you?" he taunted, sounding pretty pleased with himself, despite being the one with the knife to his throat. "Don't you see? You freed it, Vincent. You gave it breath. And now? Now it has to be fed." Vincent had heard enough and

slit his throat, letting his body fall to the ground, as Marcel got to his feet. Vincent knelt next to the son of a friend of his, Adam, as Marcel went to check out the alter.

"The spell's already in motion," he said as he checked on the kids. "It's draining the life out of these kids. They're _freezing_."

"Vincent, what is all this?" Marcel asked, waving a hand over the items on the alter. Vincent joined him with a frown, as he picked up a toy.

"The witch," he started. "He used their personal items to bind them to the spell. Totems. I know this magic. I can reverse it." Vincent held his hands palm downwards as Marcel stepped back slightly as Vincent chanted.

"Vincent?" Vincent went over to the kids as they started to wake up, specifically, to Adam.

"Yeah, man, it's OK. You're ok. Can you stand for me?" he asked, holding out his hands for Adam to take so that he could help him up. Marcel and Vincent looked them all over to check that there were no physical injuries before they would have them over to Will who was waiting for their call.

"You find out who's kid the youngest is yet?" Marcel asked as Vincent came to stand next to him. Vincent shook his head.

"Kid's stubborn," he said. "Wouldn't even tell me his own name. But I swear he looks familiar." Marcel nodded. He looked familiar to him too.

"Let me try talk to him." Marcel walked across the room to the little boy and crouched down in front of him. He looked up and then gave a look that said he clearly thought he was an idiot. "Hey kid. I'm Marcel." The kid looked like he was about to interrupt, but kept his silence, having been taught it was rude to interrupt by his father. "We need to know your name, you know? Can't keep calling you kid, especially when we try and get you back to your parents."

"You don't even remember my dad's _name_ ," he said with a disbelieving look. "And he's told you, like, 3 million times! I'm not telling you."

Marcel watched him go with an astounded expression on his face as he was essentially ignored so that a kid could go play with a stuffed bear, before walking back over to Vincent, who had a half worried, half amused look on his face.

"And that's not even the least of our problems," he said as he reached him. Marcel have him his full attention. "We've got 5 kids, but 6 totems." Marcel blinked, before looking down at the alter again, seeing a little girl's hairbrush.

"So who's the other kid?" He picked up the hairbrush and turned it so that the back was facing him, only to see a familiar crest. He and Vincent shared a look before Marcel went and called an ambulance for the kids.

-TO/SH-

"No." The youngest, who they finally found out was called Luke – now that knew where that familiarity came from, given that he was the son of the man they had thought was Elijah for the past 4 years – was now stubbornly clinging onto Vincent's jacket as they tried to get him into the ambulance with the other kids.

"Luke, come on man," Vincent sighed as he tried to pry the 5 year old's fingers from his jacket. "You need to get checked out." Luke have him an incredulous look and just clung tighter.

"Look, the sooner you get checked out by a doctor, the sooner you can get home with your dad, OK?" Marcel said as he struggled not to laugh at the sight of Vincent in his own struggle with a 5 year old, though judging by the glare on Vincent's face, which was aimed at him, he doubted he was doing very well in concealing his laughter.

" _No_. Daddy said not to go near bad people. A bad man will take that truck, we _can't_ go in there!" Marcel and Vincent shared a slightly shocked look. The kid had been through a lot in the past few hours, but he sounded so sure of that, and magic didn't have boundaries like keeping knowledge of the future with adults.

"OK, well, how about this? I'm going to cast a spell to make sure nothing can go wrong on the way to the hospital." Vincent muttered a protection spell under his breath and the ambulance shimmered a dark blue before going back to normal. "See. Perfectly safe." Luke hesitated before shaking his head. Vincent sighed before giving in. "OK. I'm going to take you home, alright?" Luke nodded quickly.

"I'm going to stay with the ambulance," Marcel announced. "Make sure nothing goes wrong."

"OK," Vincent agreed. "I'm going to drop Luke at home and meet up with you later." At Marcel's answering nod, Vincent patted Luke on the back and turned him towards his car. "Come on, man. Don't worry about it, Marcel and I won't let anything happen to them." Luke still looked a little worried once he got in the car. Vincent turned back and called to Marcel. "And you need to get them back here. If Hope Mikaelson is linked to that spell, she's going to die."

"I just got rid of them!" Marcel exclaimed.

"Well you need to bring them back, Marcel! She's a kid alright? She's practically your sister." Vincent waited until Marcel sighed and nodded before getting in the car and driving away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Saving Hope or Originals, otherwise I wouldn't have had to cry when (spoiler alert) Klaus and Elijah died, because they both would have lived for at least another million years happily ever after with Elena and Caroline and their family would be peaceful and happy**.

Chapter 5

Vincent got to the address listed and got it, undoing Luke's seatbelt before letting him out. Luke ran ahead of him, causing him to sign and followed, quickly catching up and started knocking on the door, which swung open. The feeling that something was very very wrong once again rose as he pushed the door open properly, keeping Luke behind him even as he attempted to push passed him to find his dad.

Who was lying unconscious on the floor.

Yeah, definitely a good idea to keep Luke behind him.

"Stay out here," he told him as he cautiously entered the house. He insult down next to the unconscious man and started checking on his vitals before casting a diagnostic spell, as Luke came and sat next to him.

"Why is daddy not waking up?"

"I'll tell you later if you go sit down on the couch." Luke gave him a look that clearly asked if he thought he was stupid, but got to his feet and moved away. Looking over the results, her felt like swearing, the only reason he didn't being in the next room over. The mental damage was extreme and would have caused a hell of a lot of pain for at least a few hours, and would definitely explain why he was unconscious, and why his vitals had slowed so drastically. Whatever those witches had given him, he was dying. And as much as he didn't like Mikaelsons – which he clearly was, even if he wasn't one of the siblings – he hadn't done anything wrong, and neither had the kid he would be leaving alone if Vincent let him die. Which he wasn't going to.

"Luke," he called. The boy appeared in the doorway, worried look on his young face. "Do you know if your dad keeps lavender oil, rosemary and Valerian root?" Luke nodded.

"They're in the herb cabinet, on the top shelf."

"Stay here."

Luke gave him a weird look as he got to his feet, closing his eyes and holding out his hands. Noises came from behind him in what he assumed was the kitchen and he turned, before his eyes widened and he ducked to avoid the objects flying at his head. He followed their progress as they landed in a neat line between Luke and his father. Luke opened his eyes and smiled before looking at Vincent.

"What…"

"Daddy tells me that if something's too high or I can't find it, to hold out my hands and picture it coming to me. But if I use it to get to the cookies without being told to, or I don't get dessert when he buys one."

"Right… we'll get back to that. How old her you anyway?"

"I turned five a few days ago." Vincent looked at him then shook his head, muttering something about Mikael, whoever that was, and witches that Luke didn't quite catch before mixing three herbs and the oil and muttering a spell under his breath. After a few minutes, the mixture started smoking and Vincent dipped tell fingers into the paste and started making a symbol on his forehead for healing, still changing the whole time and for another 5 minutes he continues. Luke eventually fell asleep curled against his father's side and Vincent sat back with a sigh as the spell was complete. Now he just had to wait.

And maybe move them to a bed.

-TO/SH-

Joel woke with a groan and a massive headache. A warmth to his left had him turning to see Luke curled up asleep next to him, tiny hand clinging to his shirt. He laid his hand on his son's head and let his head thump back onto the bed, trying to remember what happened. Then he frowned slightly. Was there someone downstairs?

Joel unclenched Luke's fist from his shirt and pulled the cover on top of him before going downstairs into the kitchen to see who he thought might be Vincent Griffith looking into his fridge.

"What are you doing?"

Vincent jumped in shock and spun around to face him.

"I'm looking for orange juice."

"Right… why are you looking for orange juice? In my fridge?"

Vincent shrugged. "It wasn't anywhere else." Joel rolled his eyes.

"Why aren't you in whatever lair you live in?" Vincent snorted.

"Because I don't live in a lair." Vincent sighed and walked over to the table add he saw Joel's unimpressed look, gesturing for him to join him, which he did so with a suspicious look on his face and a carton of orange juice. "Where the hell was that?!"

"The one place you didn't look," he answered. "The drinks cabinet." Vincent face palmed as he heard that. Not even realizing he would have a drinks cabinet – so obvious now that he thought about it – he hasn't even thought to check one of the lower cabinets the other man must have pulled it and the two glasses out from. Joel laughed at the action and poured the orange into the glasses, pushing one closer to the other witch.

"Four children have come missing recently," Vincent said after taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Do we need something stronger than juice for this?" Vincent scoffed. "Wish I could, but I gotta be sober for however long it takes to deal with this, and if I start drinking now, I ain't gonna stop." Joel shrugged and waved for him to continue. "Marcel and I, we got to tracking them down. When we got there," he hesitated slightly before continuing. "There were five kids, not four." Joel went slightly pale and his head started to ache as he remembered.

"Luke. They came for Luke. I tried to stop them and they injected me with something. I don't remember anything after that."

"I didn't expect you to, man. Whatever it was that injected you with, it messed with your head. Your mind was fractured more than I'd ever seen. I managed to fix it, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was still damage." Vincent had watched his expressions as he told him what had been done to him. He had gone still, not even blinking, barely breathing. "You OK, man?"

"Thank you for saving Luke. You can leave when you've finished your juice." Joel got to his feet, ignoring the confused and surprised look on Vincent's face.

"What?"

"You should go. I have something I needed to do." He left the room, trusting Vincent could find the door on his own.

Joel went into the living room and leaned against the windowsill. He looked out into the back garden and closed his eyes, reaching out with his mind to touch those in the quarter. He's barely gone more than three miles before there was a splitting pain in his head and he gasped as his mind snapped back, falling backwards and being caught and lowered into a chair by Vincent, who clearly hadn't left yet. Vincent crouched down in front of him with a hand on his shoulder, looking worried.

"Deep breaths, deep breaths. You OK man?"

"They destroyed it," he gasped out. "I can't feel them further than three miles. I can't – this isn't…" he ran a shaking hand over his face and through his hair, then looked at it. His hands were shaking. His hands didn't even shake when performing a surgery on a guy with a mortar shell lodged in his pelvic bone in a tent in the middle of a military base. And they're shaking now. Part of him thought of how Alex would have taken his hands in hers if she had been here and she would have said something funny and they would have laughed, and all would have been fine. He would have been fine if she was still by his side. His rock. The love of his life.

He looked at Vincent and calmed enough to shrug his hand off and point him to a chair.

"If you're staying, you might want to sit down." Vincent have him a cautious look, before glancing down at his watch.

"Actually I have to go. I'm meeting someone in 10 minutes. Want me to come back later?"

"Why the sudden concern?" Joel asked. "For the past 5 years, you haven't even bothered to get my name right, now you're all worried. Why?" Vincent shrugged.

"Something's coming. Something big and it might be my fault. And we're gonna need all the help we can get." Joel watched as Vincent turned and left, before standing and going over to the bookshelf to get a grimoire. He needed to fix the left over damage in his mind, and every healing potion in this book may not be enough, but with practice as well, it will be enough to protect his son. It had to be


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Hold on, let me check... Nope. Don't own The Originals or Saving Hope.**

Chapter 6

Vincent walked into the old Mikaelson compound. The place had been abandoned after the events of that day 5 years ago, Marcel not even bothering with having anyone clean it up or get rid of all the weeds. Part of him was slightly distracted. He'd called Maxine just now to check on Adam, but she had told him he hadn't come home last night. After he dealt with this, he needed to call Marcel and see what the hell was going on. Four people stood in the middle of the room.

"Where's Vincent?" he heard Haley ask.

"Right here," he called as he walked in. "Kept my word. Now the only question is are you going to keep yours? As soon as I heal your kid, you've got to leave this city."

"Well we're not going to stay are we? Your city has lost all its charm," Klaus taunted. It was true. Whilst this city has been their home for the longest time and this was where his family was happiest, it was also where they had lost the most in the past 8 years, where they had experienced almost more losses and heartbreaks than they could handle. He had no intention of staying here longer than they absolutely had to.

"What he means," Haley said, shooting him a look, "is that we're very grateful, just help her and we'll leave."

"Just give us what we need, and we will do so happily," Elijah added.

Vincent started chanting as he stood beside Hope, how was sleeping. As he finished, she woke up.

"Mom?" she asked, confused.

"That's it," Vincent stated. "Your girl's purified. She'll be fine."

"Thank you," Klaus said sincerely. Vincent shook his head.

"The only thanks I needed from any of you is to see you all leaving this city for good."

"Go see your daddy," Haley whispered from beside Hope. She started walking over, only to stop as a dead crow landed at her feet. More of them started falling and Hope looked around nervously as they were all falling in a circle around _her_.

"What is this?" Klaus said, more confused than angry though the anger was still there, as he watched his daughter.

"I don't know," Vincent replied, also watching.

"Can you hear that?" Hope asked. "It's whispering. Saying a name. Over and over. 'Kre Nah Han. Kre Nah Han."

"Vincent what... What is that?"

"It's a nearly forgotten dialect. Creole. It means the Hollow. The Hollow is coming."

-TO/SH-

Joel took off his bag. Luke was with Zach and Melanda at his place while he was here. He had found this place about a year after moving here, a literal nexus of magic. This would be the place that could finish healing his mind if whatever was coming was as bad as Vincent seemed to think. He lay back and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was in a graveyard.

"You can't be here," said a female voice from behind him. He turned to see a young girl, around 18 with brunette hair and pretty blue eyes. "Vampires can't be here." Joel opened his mouth. "But you're not a vampire, are you? You're not Elijah."

"Kind of what I've been telling everyone for 4 years," he said, rolling his eyes. The teen smirked.

"Probably shouldn't have moved to New Orleans is you didn't want to be mistaken for anyone. Especially not here. Your appearance could get you killed. Kind of surprised it hasn't already having been living here for 4 years."

"Had a few close calls once or twice," he said. He looked at her curiously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Davina," she said after a few seconds.

"Davina... I think I've heard of you. You died 5 years ago."

"I did. Why did you move from New Zealand?"

"School," he answered. At her curious look be elaborated. "I'm an orthopaedic surgeon. Started off in New Zealand, went to Harvard Medical to continue my learning. That was years ago now. Moved to New Orleans from Canada." She nodded in understanding.

"What are you doing here?"

"Someone attacked me to get to my son. They broke my magic. Where I am in the physical plain is a nexus of magic. It's going to fix me so I can protect those I love, my son most of all."

"I think I can help with that," Davina said. Joel looked at her. "This is the ancestral plain. The nexus is most likely a weak point between the living world and this one. I'm helping you, but I also have a warning. The people who attacked you. They work for someone called the Hollow. She's old and powerful, more powerful than anyone has ever seen. The Ancestors have been holding her back for around 2000 years through the link to the living world. When that link was severed, she broke free."

"What does she want?"

"What does every villain want? Control, destruction, the usual. She needs to be stopped. You can't just protect your son. It's everyone that she's after. And they won't be enough. They'll need your help."

"Of course I'll help," he said, confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

Davina held out her hand and Joel took it. She started chanting and he gasped as warmth flooded through him. Light nearly blinded him and he closed his eyes. The light finally faded and he opened eyes. He was back in the meadow. He took in a deep in and closed his eyes again, reaching out with his mind again, testing the limits. A smile slowly stole over his face as he opened his eyes again. Back to normal.

-TO/SH-

Vincent stood in the church in front of the witch community. He'd found Marcel on the route the ambulance was supposed to take unconscious earlier and woke him up. He hasn't remembered anything and was now with the Tremé witches to convince them to help.

"I know what we're up against. It's a faction of witches, our people, Who are making human sacrifices to a spirit called the Hollow. Now, this thing, it's dark, it's angry, and it's very very powerful." Elijah, who had walked through the door about half way through his speech unnoticed, spoke up now.

"And it is a force my family and I are here to erase. Now, kindly excuse us, please. Mr Griffith and I have much to discuss."

"OK, uh, give me a minute," he said and dismissed the witches. The two met in the middle of the church as the witches filled out, Maxine stopping him for a second to talk before he got to him.

"Now that we've suspended with the needless hysteria," Elijah started before Vincent cut in.

"I got a lot on my plate, Elijah, without whatever trouble you're trying to bring my way."

"You needed me," Elijah stated, both bemused and matter of fact. "And fortunately, I have a long history of removing anything undesirable from New Orleans."

"I'm probably one of those things on your list," Vincent retorted. "So I think it's best for me to work alone."

"Oh it's not an offer," Elijah said. "Children's lives are at risk." Vincent stared at him angrily.

"So now you care about children's lives being at risk?!" he shouted. "What about Davina Claire, Elijah, huh?!"

"So, you can only see me as some kind of merciless butcher?"

"Yes, I do."

"I'll be whoever you like, Vincent Griffith, I'll be the devil himself, but make no mistake, I would violate everything sacred under the sun in the name of saving my niece. And right now, according to you, you are having two evils. Wouldn't it be better if once of them were on your side?" They started at each other for a few seconds before Vincent answered.

"We do things my way."

"Beautiful. Your way it is."

-TO/SH-

Elijah followed Vincent into a room with ashes in a vase in the middle of a table.

"And who might this be?"

"These are the ashes of a witch who lost his way," Vincent started. "And they might be the way to help us find others. This thing, The um, The Hollow, it has a very unique magical signature. I felt it on this witch the other day when Marcel and I took him out, so if I can trace that energy back to its source..."

"You can find the rest of these fanatics," Elijah finished for him, before studying him. "So, this thing haunted my niece... Has it spoken to you?"

"It's more like a, um, a broadcast," he explained. "I managed to shut it out. Other people have a harder time with that."

"Like your wife?" Vincent turned to look at him.

"You know, there's a difference between what we project and what we have inside our hearts, what we try to hide inside of our hearts, right? Now that thing, it took what's darkest and twisted inside of me and turned it against me. It used it against my wife and it took everything that I've ever loved from me."

"So then, you have every reason to want to remove it from this earth."

"Yeah. But let's say we run into this thing today, Elijah. It's going to take everything that you want to keep buried, and it's going to use that and make you do exactly what it wants you to. And that's what makes you a liability to the very niece we're both trying to protect."

 **OK, so this is the second story I've updated today, very proud of myself. And it's not during late hours of the night or early hours of the morning. Extra proud of myself.**

 **Now that my pride has been expressed, I would like for opinion. Should I keep Joel with no pairing, bring Alex back with Davina, or have someone completely different with him?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Still not the owner of The Originals or Saving Hope.**

 **I know it's late again, sorry, but it has my sisters birthdays these past couple of days.**

"words" = telepathic talking

'words' = thinking

Chapter 4

Joel unlocked the door and Zack came out holding a very tired looking Luke.

"Hey Joel."

"Hey what's wrong?" Joel ran a hand through Luke's hair. The 5 year old opened one of his eyes and peered at him, before detaching himself from his uncle's neck and holding his arms out. Joel took him from Zack and Luke buried his face in his father's neck. "What's wrong, Little Prince, hmm? What's wrong?"

"I'm cold, dad. The others are too. It wants us, and it's _so cold_." Joel just held him, a worried expression on his face.

"You'll be OK kid. I promise you, you will be OK. I'll make sure of it."

-TO/SH-

Vincent watched as Will ran out to join the other acolytes of the Hollow. He still couldn't believe Will was doing all this, sacrificing children, of his own free will. Elijah stood.

"Any other bright ideas?" he asked, slightly sarcastic.

"I tagged him with magic. Now we can follow him right back to the kids."

"Let's go." Elijah called Haley and Klaus to join them on the way there.

-TO/SH-

Haley joined Elijah, Vincent, Marcel and Klaus to find the other kids, her encounter with Lara still on her mind. She had known that girl, and now she was dead because of this thing. Because she followed it and decided she would now rather die than follow it, and it was too late to stop.

And now it was after her daughter.

The guys were talking about them leaving after saving Hope.

"Clearly, we're skipping all the hugs and hellos," she announced herself. Everyone turned to her. "Vincent?"

"Trail leads this way," Vincent started. "So I guess we follow the breadcrumbs."

"Tactless savages holding a ghost raising rave," Klaus said. "Best make short work of them."

"They have got 6 kids tied into this spell. One of them is Hope, you've got her safe at home. Another kid I personally escorted to his father, so they've got 4 kids here with them. We need to get them safe and break the spell. That will break the link the Hope and Luke as well."

"I'm assuming Luke is the one at home with his father?" At Vincent's nod, Elijah continued. "Should you not attempt to get in contact with him to explain what's happening with his son?"

"From what I can tell," Vincent stated, "he can figure it out himself. I sent him a text earlier telling him it was being sorted."

"When did you get _that guy's_ number?" Marcel asked confused. Klaus spoke up before Vincent could.

"Does it matter? Back to the missing children and evil spirits, I say we–"

"We split up," Marcel interrupted. "Klaus, you're with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight. If anybody has a problem with that, I don't give a damn."

The group separated.

-TO/SH-

"So I assume you're embarking on this journey out of the kindness of your heart," Klaus said after they started walking in another direction to everyone else.

"There are kids in trouble," Marcel said. "Including yours."

"It's a bit late to start caring about my child, given how you left her fatherless for _five years,_ " Klaus said, holding back the anger in his tone. He had missed most of his daughter's life, because of the man next to him.

"Well speaking from experience, I figured I was doing her a favour," Marcel retorted, thinking about his life with Klaus. Sure, they were close when he was a child, but then came the threats and the pain. He actually thought Hope would be better off without him and his psycho siblings.

"Careful," Klaus warned. "Lest your insults mar our already tentative peace."

"I don't _care_ about our peace," Marcel snapped. "I care about finding these missing kids and wiping out the messed up people who took them. Route out the problem, make them go away, that's what you do when you're king."

"All I see is a petulant prince."

"Always with the insults. You never learn."

"On the contrary," Klaus said. "My time in your dungeon clarified my priorities. My concerns are with my child. As for you... I could think of no better revenge than to leave you with the endless struggle to prove yourself my better. You're welcome, by the way."

The two of them continued walking in silence, tension thick before coming to the clearing where the Hollow's witches were doing their ritual, the four missing kids wrapped in cloth head to toe.

"Now that you have returned brother, you may join us as we claim our power. Our rightful place, and lay waste to all those who would deny our master," one of the five witches in threes clearing said to Will. "Are you prepared to prove your loyalty to the Hollow?"

"I know what I have to do," Will stated firmly. "I'm not afraid."

"We should begin."

"Enough of this circus of sadists," Klaus said, sharing a look with Marcel. He broke off a piece of the sigil hanging from the tree next to him and threw it at the leader, piercing right through his chest. The clearing burst with sudden activity as the group of five attacked, Elijah, Klaus and Marcel killing the witches and Vincent and Haley getting the kids off of the large circular alter.

Marcel yelled add he was dragged back with magic. Will started chanting and Klaus rushed over and grabbed him by the neck.

"You can't stop what's coming," he said with a triumphant smirk. Klaus snapped his neck, leaving the body to fall to the ground, before collapsing into his knees before a statue next to Marcel, who was also on his knees. A ring of fire sprung up around them both. Elijah was pushed back by the boundary.

"No no no," Vincent muttered, horrified. "We got it all _wrong_. It _wants us_ here."

"Why," Elijah asked, holding back on rushing towards his brother again.

"They want to channel your power to anchor the Hollow to the living world."

The three of them turned to where the New Zealand accented voice spoke up. Haley gasped, Elijah stared, and Vincent just scoffed and said, "took you long enough." As _if_ he actually believed he would stay home while they're off trying to destroy an evil spirit who was trying to kill his son. Joel gave him a look before smirking.

"You know, if you had told me you were going after this thing now, I would have been here from the start." He looked around. "And no one would have died," he added giving a pointed look at Elijah, who was now hiding his shock a lot better and met his eyes evenly.

"OK well, that doesn't change what's happening," Vincent said. All three of the others looked at him before Joel spoke.

"You try and wake the kids," he said before looking at the ring of fire containing the two vampires. "I'll do something about this." Vincent looked at them as well.

"I get the feeling there's not much you can do against a spirit without killing one of the kids."

"You should really stop underestimating me." Vincent just shook his head sighing, before going over to the kids with Haley. Elijah stayed. "You should go with them. They'll probably need you."

"I'm staying here."

"All night? I'd imagine even Originals need sleep every once in a while," Joel said cheekily with a grin. Elijah just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, giving him a look. He sighed, shaking his head. "Suit yourself." Joel closed his eyes.

"Elijah," Haley called. Joel smirked slightly as Elijah was gone in a second.

"So whipped," he muttered to himself before touching their minds. The first thing he noticed, was that it was _freezing_. Not even just slightly cold but _freezing_. The second was that this Hollow was actually slowly taking over Marcel and Klaus's minds.

' _Well screw that,_ ' he thought to himself. And considering he was in 2 other minds at the same time with another intruder meant that all three of the others probably heard add well, which would explain why that light has pulsed. "Leave them," he demanded. It seemed like The Hollow laughed at him, flashing brighter. "I mean it. These people aren't for you to play with. Their minds are their own, so leave them alone." The whole time, Joel was gradually pushing the Hollow back from their minds, loosening it's hold on them slowly enough that it would definitely make a difference when Vincent broke the spell, but the Hollow wouldn't feel it until it was too late. "You came to this city and you manipulated witches, wolves and humans into doing your will, but now I'm involved. And you tried to kill my son. You're not hurting anyone else. So-"

He was interrupted by the sudden disappearance of the Hollow and being thrown out of their minds. He stumbled slightly, then steadied himself. He looked around to see that the ring of fire was extinguished and Marcel and Klaus were walking over to where Vincent was calming the kids and Haley was cradling Elijah's dead body.

"You're welcome, by the way. I just stopped the Hollow from completely taking over," he said, before offering to drop the kids off in the Cauldron to their families. Klaus narrowed his eyes at him, slightly confused about how he can be standing there, whilst Marcel looked incredulous between him and Elijah before shaking his head.

"How the hell did I not notice that?!"

"Because you were being too stubborn and wrapped up in your hatred of him to realise that I'm _human_ and therefore _definitely not him._ Not to mention, that apparently you're also deaf enough _not_ to hear that millions of times that I've _actually said it_ ," Joel retorted. Marcel scowled and opened his mouth to reply when Vincent cut in.

"Yeah, you get these kids home, we'll deal with the bodies." Clearly, he didn't want any arguments to occur and was trying to separate them. Joel just nodded and took them home to their parents before getting himself home to his son.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Don't own Saving Hope or The Originals**

 **Yep. Definitely late. Really, really late. Got no excuses this time, but I will warn you that this will probably happen again. Not this late, but definitely late. Sorry about this. On with the story.**

Chapter 8

A few days later, Joel sat in one of the booths in the corner of Rousseau's with Luke and his friend from school Amelia, whose parents were going away for the weekend. The two children had been friends for years, so her parents had been fine with him looking after her for a few days whilst they were away. He watched, amused, their conversation going from train sets to painting to a desperate want to go to the beach soon in a matter of seconds.

' _The mind of a five year old is a strange thing,'_ he thought to himself as he spotted Josh coming towards them with a smile.

"Hey guys, having fun?" Josh asked the kids. They both nodded, giggling. Josh shot Joel a look, raising an eyebrow. Joel just shook his head, sighing. Way too much sugar for one day. Josh smirked slightly. "How about I get you guys some ice cream sundaes on the house?" Joel scowled at him slightly, before smirking himself.

"Sure, but you've got to look after them." Josh looked at him, slightly horrified, before looking back at the two children who were basically jumping up and down in their seats.

"I'm good, I'm good, got the bar to run you know?"

Joel smiled wider. "You can delegate. Come join us. You know, a thanks for giving the hyped up kids I have here with me more free sugar so they stay awake and drive me crazy for the next 3 days." Josh stared, wide eyed before stepping back slightly.

"No seriously, I've got a lot of, important, managerial, stuff to do, you know? I'll just go get you your ice cream and-"

He was interrupted by Joel standing and putting his hands on his shoulders and forcing him down with a smile on his face.

"You sit down with the kids. I'll tell your staff what you said and that you're staying with us. I'm sure they won't mind covering for you." Joel went off to the counter, the first person in the know to truly accept him in this city staring at him before looking at the kids. The two of them stared back at him. Josh resisted the urge to back away slowly and carefully as they eyed him like predators. Or maybe that was just him being paranoid. The last time he had to babysit for Joel and Luke had a sugar high, he'd been the one to tire first. He'd been woken up by Joel laughing at him with tears in his eyes and Luke somehow lying asleep on the table having built himself a fort of pillows from all the beds upstairs. He'd taken a look in the mirror and found his hair to be neon pink with bright green and orange spots and little patterns and shapes drawn onto his face in glittery blue gel pen. That was only a few months ago. So yeah, personal experience says never to hang around too long when Luke is on a sugar high. Bad things happen. Bad bad things.

And now there were two of them.

-TO/SH-

Josh flopped down onto the couch next to Joel who was smirking at him as the kids had finally fallen asleep.

"Do me a favor please?" Josh asked, tired. "Please don't make me babysit them alone when they have sugar highs? Last time was bad enough. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the kid, who wouldn't, he's adorable, and I've got no problem looking after him normally, but on days like this, it's like he has fun tiring me out. I swear he's planning something every time he does that," Josh grumbled, scowling to himself at the last part. Joel snickered as he got up from the couch, putting the two empty beer bottles in a bin at the kitchen counter.

"I take it this is lesson learned?" he asked with a smirk. "Don't give my kid – or any kid for that matter – more than a bowl of ice cream at the most at one time. Especially 5 year olds. And don't give them anything when they devoured practically a suitcase full of sugar each before you can tell them 'that's supposed to last you at least 3 months'." Josh let his head thump back onto the couch as he groaned. He picked up his phone as it signaled an incoming text and brightened when he saw the name. "Booty call?" Joel asked, smirking.

"Shut up," Josh said, throwing one of Luke's T-shirts at Joel's head, blushing slightly as he waved goodbye. Joel shook his head as he locked the door behind his Vampire friend and went to his own room, intent on getting some sleep before his shift at the hospital the following day.

-TO/SH-

Joel stepped out of the OR a surgery plating a 17 year old's tibia so it could heal properly. What the boy was supposedly doing in a tree high enough to cause a comminuted fracture when he fell was anyone's guess. It was also the worst lie he'd ever heard, especially when you added the already healed fractures and broken bones that had left scarring behind. He would need to wait social services to arrive before telling his family the surgery was done and that their son would survive.

"Did you get social services on the line?" he asked Allie at the nurses station. He'd asked her to call them before he'd gone in to operate after the aunt had signed the paperwork. The blonde nodded grimly. "Did they tell you when they work get here?"

"They're already here," she said. "They'll need to wait for your patient to wake up."

"Yeah, they'll need the kid's statement. The family?"

"In the waiting room. The aunt keeps trying to get passed."

"Hopefully that means Jamie's got someone to look after him instead of sending him into the system. Have social services spoken to the parents?"

"Not yet. They're waiting for you and Jamie." Joel nodded, picking up the file containing Jamie's x rays, then leaving to join them all. His phone started ringing and he took it out to see Josh's name flashing on the screen. "Kind of busy, mate."

"Yeah, I forgot you were working." Joel raised an eyebrow. It seemed Josh could tell, because then he continued. "Then I remembered and I decided to call you anyway, because this is important."

"Josh –"

"Marcel thinks The Hollow might be trying to gain a foothold in the living world using him." Joel was silent for a moment, before sighing. He'd managed to stay out of this for years, even living in this supernatural hot-spot, but apparently, that was now changing.

"What did you want me to do about this?" he asked.

"Well I _was_ kinda hoping you would do that Jedi mind trick of yours. You know, get into his head, get the unwanted psycho spirit out of it." Joel was silent again. "What, you thought I didn't notice? Dude, you're like Charles freaking Xavier in a supernatural hot-spot, somebody had to notice. If it helps though, I don't think anybody else did. Plus there is what happened last week when the Hollow tried to, you know, take over Marcel and Klaus and Marcel told me what Vincent told him happened." Joel just shook his head.

"My shift finishes in 3 hours, I'll see what I can do."

-TO/SH-

Joel walked into Rousseau's and over to the bar. Josh looked relieved.

"You're here! Thank God."

"You can thank God all you like, Josh, but we need to hurry this up, I've got two kids to look after this weekend, who are currently with Luke's babysitter probably trying to con her out of sweets." Josh shuddered slightly as he remembered the day before when he was dragged into helping. God, he was never offering free sundaes again.

"I can't find Marcel."

"Seriously? He's possessed by an evil witch spirit and you go and lose him? How did you manage that?!"

"Well I want exactly there with him 24/7, Joel. I had to work here too. Besides, you're a witch, you can just do a locator spell." Joel have him a blank look. "Right?"

"I'm not a witch, Josh. Well, I am, but it's…" he hesitated slightly before continuing. "It's more complicated than that," he decided to go with. He gestured for Josh to follow him somewhere more private.

"What's so complicated?" Josh asked, confused.

Joel sat on one of the chairs next to the desk in his friend's office.

"It's not so much complicated as it is a very long story," Joel started as Josh sat down opposite him.

"Well, we're kind of short for time here," Josh stated. "Cliff notes version?" He looked at him with a questioning look on his face. "Is there a short version?" Joel snorted.

"Of course there's a short version. Basically everything has a short version. Essentially, a really powerful witch was after the firstborns of my family because we're extremely powerful, so one of my ancestors created a spell which would channel all of the firstborn's magic into one aspect of magic. I had a great aunt I was told about who could manipulate the elements in the most extreme ways. She could calm a tsunami, or set fire to the world. Thankfully, she didn't feel like killing everyone. My magic is all turned towards the mind. If I truly tried I could have a conversation with someone in Africa right now all inside our heads. And I'd be speaking their language too, if I wanted to talk to someone that way. Could learn a new language in a few months of I wanted to. I can find Marcel, but I won't need a map," he added as Josh stood to get one, "I can try and remove the Hollow from him, but if this was only about the mind, she wouldn't have gotten passed me even a little last week. She's a spirit. A spirit latched onto a human – well, human- _ish_ – mind. I can stop her from completely overtaking and influencing him, but that's the only thing I can do to get the Hollow out."

 **So leave a review guys. I'd love to see what everyone is thinking of this story. Thanks for sticking with me on this for this long.**

 **\- Kyrian Mikaelson**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Saving Hope or The Originals**

 **I know I said that it may be late, but I did intend on having this one up on time after the last chapter. Unfortunately, the words just would not flow. Usually they would, but not for this chapter. So sorry it's this late, I did not intend on leaving it for two weeks, but the words were being stubborn and hiding from me for the first half of the chapter.**

Chapter 9

Josh watched, pacing, as Joel located Marcel. It was without a doubt the strangest way of finding someone he had ever seen. Mainly because Joel was sitting on a chair with his eyes closed and every other witch he'd ever known would be all over maps with blood or hair or anything else linked to the person being found. Now Joel looked like he was relaxing and knowing that he was basically using the best locator spell in the universe was a little disconcerting whilst watching what looked like inactivity. Suddenly Joel's eyes snapped open, causing Josh to stop pacing.

"The cemetery," he said. Josh ran out at Vampire speed. Joel snorted before getting to his feet. "Yeah, no, the one going to stop this guy from _killing_ someone doesn't need a ride and you definitely know exactly where he is." He walked out to his car, then stopped, thinking about what was happening. Marcel was being manipulated by a vengeful, extremely powerful spirit, but he wasn't the only one who got trapped in that ritual.

Klaus.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It looked like Marcel wasn't the only one who needed help.

-TO/SH-

Joel was almost at the cemetery when he noticed Marcel had moved. He sighed. Stupid vampire speed. And why had be let go of the guys mind in the first place? He found Josh outside the cemetery, pacing, and got out, leaving the car running.

"What's wrong?"

"It's some kind of barrier," Josh explained, scowling slightly. "I can't get in. Maybe you could?"

"There's no point," he said. "Marcel moved." Josh looked at him, shocked.

"When the hell did that happen?!"

"Sometime in the past 5 minutes, I'd say. He's nowhere near the cemetery."

"I've been standing out here for almost that long, I didn't see anybody." Joel gave him a look.

"We're having a centuries old extremely powerful witch spirit who's currently possessing two of the most powerful immortal beings in the entire world. Mate. What makes you think you would see them if they're doing exactly what this Hollow wants them to?" Josh blinked, opening his mouth, then closing it again. He nodded.

"Good point." He paused. "What do you mean _two?"_

"You've got Marcel and Klaus. He was trapped with Marcel, which means the Hollow has him too." Josh sighed and face palmed.

"Great," he said sarcastically. "So now we've got to help Mikaelson's too?" Joel shrugged.

"You can do what you like, but I'm just doing what I have to in order to keep my son and everyone else this thing could target safe." Joel walked over to his car. Josh caught up and slipped into the passenger seat. Joel gave him a confused look.

"What? They terrify me, but you're my best friend. I'm not letting you go near _any_ of them alone, _especially_ not Klaus."

"OK then," Joel said. "Let's go."

"Do you know where they are?"

"A Vampire called Sofia is taking Marcel to a witch. Klaus is in the town centre. I think the Hollow is being to him. Seems to be pretty angry right now."

"Pretty sure 'angry' is his default mode," Josh said sarcastically.

"Something tells me _that's_ not going to help."

When they found Klaus, he was in an alleyway with a horrified look on his face. He was kneeling on the ground looking like he was holding something. The two of them got out of the car, and approached him. Joel placed his fingers on Klaus's temple and closed his eyes, Josh standing guard next to him, both wary of Klaus attacking and someone catching them. Joel only had to search for seconds to find the part of the Hollow which was manipulating Klaus's thoughts and start building a blockade, building on the natural mental defenses he had as a vampire and a wolf. Eventually, he managed to block out the Hollow's influence. Klaus blinked, looking confused at the sudden lack of bodies around him. Joel got to his feet next to Josh.

"The people you killed weren't real. That was the Hollow making you see it all," Joel said as Klaus looked towards them. "And even if the Hollow did get to Marcel, I know he's getting help himself. The Hollow needs one of you to kill the other. You can't let that happen." Klaus narrowed his eyes at them.

"And how am I to know you aren't another of this ghosts illusions?"

"Because if we were, we would be telling you to use the weapon you've got in your pocket to kill him." Klaus looked suspicious still.

"Who says I have a weapon?" Joel snorted, giving him a 'oh please' look.

"Because you don't want what happened 5 years ago to happen again. That weapon is your insurance. Insurance that if he does come after you or your family again, you can kill him first. Besides, you're a Mikaelson. Always prepared for betrayal, especially at times like this. I've blocked your mind off from the Hollow's influence, at least for now."

"Good," Klaus said, getting to his feet. Joel crossed his arms.

"A 'thank you' would be better." Klaus gave him an annoyed look and started walking off, disappearing before he could say anything else.

"I can't believe he left us alive after that sass," Josh commented with a sigh of relief.

"Oh you'll know when I'm being sassy," Joel told him. "He's probably gone to do exactly what he's not supposed to."

"Really hoping you mean party and have a good time when there's am emergency," Josh muttered. Joel shot him a look and he sighed, shoulders slumping. "There goes that. You mean he's going to kill Marcel, don't you?" Joel nodded. Josh sighed again, third time in 2 minutes. "And the Hollow gets what it wants."

"Then let's stop them from killing each other."

-TO/SH—

"Of course," Marcel sneered. "You say our feud it's over, but _you're_ off building a weapon which can kill me."

"I wouldn't need it if I knew I could trust you!"

"Well trust me now, and we both get to live!" Marcel exclaimed, trying to get through to him.

"And how can you trust yourself?"

"Spelled beads keep me safe from this damn thing," Marcel explained, hoping that Klaus should break free of the Hollow's influence if he could stall him, not realizing that the Hollow want effecting his decisions at the moment, despite all it's attempts. The barrier placed in his mind was enough to keep his father's voice out of his head. "I bury these here, and we're done, alright? No need to fight."

Klaus could feel the Hollow trying to break through to his mind, a sure sign that what Marcel was saying was the truth.

But only part of it. He says that there is no need to fight, but if Klaus lets him go now, he knows that one day, Marcel would try to kill his family again. Maybe not now, maybe not in the next few months, or even years, but he should try again.

There was too much anger in him not to. He would know after all. He had raised his son in his image.

"Damn it, Klaus, I didn't come to fight, alright?!" Marcel shouted. "Just put the weapon down."

Klaus reached his decision, without thinking of the side effects. If he did this the Hollow would be revived and they would all die. But that was far from his mind. Marcel would destroy them all.

"My family will never be safe unless you're put down." With that Marcel lost all hope that Klaus should break out of this on his own and attacked. They exchanged punches before Klaus pushed Marcel through a wall.

Marcel shook his head clear and looked up to see the Hollow as Elijah leaning against the wall.

"End this. There is no other way." Marcel got to his feet and rushed through the hole in the wall. The fight continued, Marcel throwing him to the ground on the opposite side of the room. Marcel bends down to pick up the dagger. Klaus rushed to his feet, throwing one stake first into his heart. Marcel pulled it out easily then got another to the stomach which caused him to fall. Klaus picked up the dagger.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance."

"Your mistake." Klaus goes to kill him but Marcel was too quick, getting to his feet and the fight started again, Marcel eventually ending up against a wall with Klaus pushing the dagger towards his heart. Marcel pushed back and that were suddenly on the opposite wall with the dagger further away from his heart.

"Do it now," the Hollow said in Elijah's image. "Or forever be a servant to the Mikaelsons."

Marcel pushed Klaus away, back onto the floor.

"I am not this thing's puppet. And neither are you." Klaus let loose a chuckle.

"Oh, I know I'm not. You see, I happen to know a witch powerful enough to keep this thing out of my head without the use of some silly beads. This is about what _you_ did to _my family!"_ Before anything else happened, the door burst open, allowing Elijah in, who rushed towards Marcel, pushing him against wall where the positions are almost immediately reversed, Marcel having Elijah in a choke hold.

Klaus got to his feet and walked through to the other room to see it happen. The pushing against his mental barriers made him aware of the consequences had he gone through with his plan of killing him and made him drop the dagger just as Freya, Joel and Josh rushed in and he rushed forwards and snapped Marcel's neck. Elijah slumped slightly, gasping for breath.

A human shaped figure in blue light appeared at the end of the hallway. The two brothers stood straight, looking at it. As it went to attack, Freya snapped, taking out a vial.

"Leave my family alone!" she shouted, throwing the potion at the spirit, making it scream in pain and anger making everyone flinch. After a few seconds, Joel whistled.

"Remind me never to get on _your_ bad side."

"Dude," Josh said. "We've _had_ this conversation. They're _Mikaelsons._ They _have_ no good side." The three Mikaelsons in the room – meaning the ones who actually _went_ by Mikaelson, not the one who was distantly related who had been friends with him for four years – turned to look at him.

"He says in the room full of Mikaelsons," Joel said, slightly amused.

"Somebody want to tell me what this is?" Freya asked, gesturing to Joel.

 _"That-"_ Klaus started.

 _"That?!"_ Joel said incredulously. "I am a human being, you know, not just a thing!"

"Depends who you ask." Klaus continued, ignoring Joel's dark glare in his direction. "He is the doppelganger Kol mentioned as we were leaving the city."

"Also, the one who stopped you from being taken over by a malevolent spirit who wants you dead, you're welcome."

"How?" Freya asked, more curious than before.

"I'll explain later, over dinner." Josh snorted a bit at that and gets m Freya's raised eyebrow. Clearly she had caught on to the fact that he was flirting, unlike her two brothers who remained oblivious Anna probably would unless they caught them kissing, which would probably never happen. Oh, he had heard stories about how Joel used to be before he got engaged and his fiancé died, but that had changed though he still flirted, none of his flirting ever went past maybe lunch these days. Besides, he looked exactly like Freya's brother. With these two facts, it was most likely dinner would be nothing more than explanations and making plans which would probably include the two brothers in the room.

-TO/SH—

Marcel woke just as Elijah approached, looking around to see he was being kept exactly where he had kept Klaus for the past 5 years. He snorted. Typical Klaus. Revenge.

"Did you come to gloat?" Marcel asked, pissed off and resigned.

"5 years ago, I was forced to make a decision. Take your life, or lose everything."

"Yeah, I know, I was there," Marcel said, glaring at him, wondering what the hell this was about.

"Niklaus was faced with a similar decision today," Elijah said, looking at him evenly. "And here you are."

"Here I am. Forgive me if I don't express my gratitude," Marcel said, tone snarky. Elijah ignored it.

"He's changing."

"Oh really," Marcel asked incredulously. "He put me in the came place that I kept him. Same old Klaus."

"Well, I say he would describe it as strategy. You and I both know he viewed you as something like a son. I did too, once upon a time. In fact, I used to think you were the key to my brother's redemption."

"Redemption?" Marcel snorted. "He's never going to change. Not even for his own daughter."

"Oh, but he has changed," Elijah rebuked. "She's changing him. You, Marcellus, are not needed, welcomed, or wanted. You have only been spared because you are my brothers greatest weakness. And I cannot show mercy to anyone who would demonstrate a threat towards my family. And if indeed you should prevent the redemption of the cruel, the wicked, the vindictive Niklaus Mikaelson," Elijah paused, facing Marcel, making sure he had his full attention. "I will deliver another kind of nightmares. Sweet dreams, Marcellus." With those words, he walked away, Marcel calling after him.

-TO/SH—

Dominic, the leader of the Hollow's followers, the priest, kneeled down next to Marcel's blood. Sofia walked up behind him.

"We had a deal," she said, pissed off. "I wanted Klaus dead. Marcel getting taken was not part of it. I should kill you."

"You could," Dominic said, turning to face her. "But then you'll never get what you want. Marcel's blood was spilt here today. As he is the only one able to kill an Original, the Hollow has taken this offering and given us a gift in return." The two looked at the plant steadily growing from the blood. "A single scratch from that thorn will kill an Original. And we both get what we want."

Sofia scoffed.

"You want a blood sacrifice for your dead witch, I don't care," she snapped. "All I want is my revenge."

 **And that was chapter 9, people. All obviously the Hollow knows Joel is extremely powerful in order to get rid of it from Klaus' mind. Should she try and manipulate him onto her side by bringing Alex back with Davina?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or The Originals.**

 **I'm really sorry this is late. Again. I had almost finished this chapter on Thursday, but then I'm moving house, so I'm really busy with that. Then when I finished it earlier, I got called and that jolted my hands causing me to delete the whole chapter and I couldn't get it back. The original chapter also had more words in it, so it was longer, but I could not remember any of what else I wrote besides what you're about to read now, but hopefully you still enjoy it. And even then, some of its changed, but what can you do I suppose.**

Chapter 10

Joel got up from where he was lying on the floor after being knocked down by his overly energetic son. He smiled as he heard the feminine laugh. He had seen Sonja, his ex girlfriend, and her now 11 year old son in a coffee shop not far from his place and invited them over. Sonja had smiled a bright beautiful smile – _her_ smile which made him remember of he had fallen in love with her, years ago – and accepted.

He smiled at her.

"You're never going to beat me, you know," he pointed out smugly.

"Really? It's three against one Joel."

"You should have got more people." These words, of course, sparked another mock battle with the three of them ganging up on Joel. Half an hour later saw Joel once again laying on the floor, this time trapped under Sonja. Her eyes glinted as her smile widened.

"Quick!" she shouted. "Get the brownies! They are the spoils of war!" The two of them heard giggling as the two boys ran into the kitchen to find the brownies.

"You'd never beat me one on one," he said with a glint in his eyes and a grin on his face. Sonja smirked at him.

"You got beaten by 2 under 12s, I think I've got you covered." Joel was about to report when her mouth crashed on to his and he was drawn into her kiss. Tongues clashed in a battle of dominance as his hand cupped her cheek, her hands coming up to run through his dark hair, the kiss deepened automatically. Eventually the two pulled apart, both breathing heavily with a dazed look in their eyes.

"You may have me covered," he said breathlessly, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, "but you'll still never get the brownies."

"And why's that?" she asked challengingly, raising an eyebrow.

 _"Because_ I _ate them all,"_ he said with a cheeky grin, laughing. Sonja's eyes widened in disbelief before she narrowed her eyes at him with a strange glint in them. He only had a second to look concerned before her fingers brushed against his side accidently, making him laugh before he bit his lip and she froze, staring at him. Slowly, a grin made its way across her face.

"Is the mighty Dr Joel Goran _ticklish?!"_

"No," he stubbornly denied. This started yet another war, this one just between the two of them. The two boys came out of the kitchen a few minutes later and stopped, staring at the sight before them. Both 'adults' were rolling around the floor laughing, fully engaged in a tickle war. They looked at each other wide eyed, wondering how they were supposed to stop this. A letter came through the mail slot.

"Dad? Dad, there's a letter," Luke said. No response. Luke went over to them and poked his father's side. It's didn't make much of a difference as Joel thought it was one of Sonja's attacks and attempted to wiggle out of the way. Eventually Sonja rolled away from one of Joel's attacks, giving Luke a chance to interrupt. "Dad, there's a letter." He handed it to him, having walked over to get it earlier when there was no response. It was a card with loopy writing. In seconds, Joel was sober again, getting to his feet and helping Sonja up at the same time with an easy smile on his face.

"I'll see you again tomorrow, yeah? After work? We could have dinner?" Sonya once again have him that smile before nodding.

"Come on Ryan buddy, we've got to go." Joel showed them out the door, kissing Sonja goodbye, before shutting it behind them.

Joel sighed and turned to look at Luke. He kneeled down in front of him.

"Do you want to go stay with Uncle Josh tonight?" he asked. "Think of it as a sleepover"

"Do you have to do 'boring adult things'?" he asked. Joel sighed and nodded. Luke shrugged before nodding. "OK. Uncle Josh said that he should teach me how to play the piano next time I stayed over with him." Joel bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, not being able to hide a smirk. He had _seen_ and _heard_ Josh's attempt at playing the piano. It would probably turn out to be Luke teaching _him_ how to play.

-TO/SH-

Josh walked down the stairs in the loft carrying some of the board games for him to play with Luke after a while on the piano , only to see Sofya sitting on the couch. Suddenly, he was very grateful for having told Luke to stay upstairs while he set everything up so they wouldn't have to do it later.

"Late start to the day Josh?" Sofya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, wow. Hi… creepy. You know, normal people _knock."_

"Normal is boring," she stated.

"Uh, tomato, tomato." He hesitated. "Are you here to kill me?" he asked, putting the board games down on his table.

"Why would you think that?" Sofia asked, getting off the couch and walking towards him.

"Well, that's what you did the first time we met, and our relationship hasn't _evolved_ since then," Josh pointed out. Sofia picked up the invitation to the Mikaelson's party laying next to the games, looking at it.

"My priorities have changed," she said simply. "Right now, I'm focused on event planning. For example, don't you think it's strange that the Mikaelsons cohosting a party with Marcel when no one had seen him for over 24 hours?"

"Because he's locked in a dungeon?" he said. Sofya looked at him and he hurried to explain before she, you know, changed her mind and killed him. "After Marcel disappeared, construction workers sealed off the entrance to the tunnels under Rousseau's, so, you know… One plus one equals captured."

"They invited you hoping to sell the illusion that it was Marcel's idea," she told him. "It's your lucky day. Because I'm your plus one."

"Yeah I actually wasn't even planning on going. Even if I wanted to, I'm babysitting."

"Bring the little brat with you," she said, not caring. "I'll be damned if I let Marcel rot right under Klaus's feet. This might be your one chance to get him out. I'll deal with Klaus. You find Marcel. Or I reconsider allowing you to live." This last part she said with a smile as she walked out the door.

Josh sighed as she left, looking around the loft. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Maybe he could leave Luke with Hope and Hayley so that he wasn't involved? Hayley might still like him enough to look after him for a while.

-TO/SH-

Joel, obviously dressed in one of his suits with a deep blue shirt, walked into the Mikaelson Compound, looking around. People were everywhere, half of them shooting him angry looks and glares. Probably because of his likeness to Elijah Mikaelson, he wasn't an idiot, he knew everyone hates the Mikaelson's. He ignored them all. It was decorated well, with streamers and balloons, other various decorations, even an ice sculpture. It all reminded him of the hospital thing he and Sonja went to on their first date.

' _Power plays and supernatural creatures. Yeah, because_ this _will go_ brilliantly.' It was then that he saw someone who definitely shouldn't be there.

Josh was looking rather uncomfortable on the other side of the room.

 _Not_ in his loft looking after his son.

Joel scowled and made his way across to him. Josh glanced over in his direction and Joel could see his eyes widen. He wasn't currently reading his mind, but if he was, he could guess he would be hearing _oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit._

"Where's Luke, and why aren't you with him?" he demanded, scowling at him with his arms crossed. It was at times like this that Josh was reminded that his latest friend was, in fact, a Mikaelson, even if he was 1000 years down the line, and that as a doctor, Joel would know excruciatingly painful ways of killing him. And because he was a vampire, he would just come back and Joel could start with another technique. It was also times like this, that he was _extremely_ thankful that Joel _was_ his friend, and therefore would – hopefully – never hurt him.

"I kinda left him with Hayley..." Josh risked a look at his friend's carefully blank face, the only inkling of his anger being the look in his eyes and the tick in his jaw, and winced.

"You left my _son_ with a woman I _don't know,_ so that you could attend some _stupid_ party held by people you hate?!" he hissed angrily, only just managing to keep his voice down.

"I trust her!" he rushed. "Hayley's a friend, and she has a daughter, she won't let either is them get hurt!" He made sure to leave the sort of out of the sentence, because he knows what Joel would be like if he heard that. _Klaus_ would run for the hills for gods sake!

Everyone's attention was drawn to the stairs where the Mikaelson brothers were standing, Elijah preparing to give a speech. All throughout the speech, people closer to them were shooting Joel confused looks as they could clearly see and hear Elijah on the stairs. The whole time, Joel was shooting daggers at Josh, ignoring everyone else in the room. After the speech, Josh have Joel Hayley's number so that he could check up on them. He was pretty sure it was the right one anyway. Joel walked off to the side and into a corridor so that he could call the number where he was promptly stopped by Klaus who has his hand on his shoulder and a smirk on his face

"There you are," he said. "My favourite doppelganger." Joel shot him a look.

"What do you want Klaus?"

"Well," Klaus said with a shrug. "You're a witch with a specialty in mind magics. It just so happens that I need to get into the mind of a witch."

 **So here it is, the 10th chapter. It would have been longer, but it was already a day late and it's gone 11, and I didn't want to leave you guys without a chapter for too long, so if I was going to split a chapter in half, this would be a good place to split it. I will obviously make the next chapter essentially be an episode and a half to make up for this one essentially being half a chapter, so it'll probably be a long chapter next week.**

 **Enjoy the chapter and please leave a review, I'd love to know what you guys think.**

 **\- Kyrian Mikaelson**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or The Originals.**

 **I'm back! Hey guys welcome to the next chapter of New Hope. I'm sorry it was so late, I honestly didn't mean to make it this late, I keep meaning to get it posted on time, but I'm always getting distracted by life in general. If I completed chapter 12 tomorrow, I'll post that then, too.**

 **Chaos Sorcerer, thank you for the review and to answer your question, Joel is related to the Mikaelsons and I never really saw either Rebekah or Freya being with Joel in any romantic or sexual way, just because, obviously, he looks exactly like their brother. Though, I agree with you, Rebekah definitely deserves to be loved.**

Chapter 11

"I'm a little busy right now, Klaus," he said, shrugging Klaus's arm off his shoulder.

"I couldn't care less if you were in the middle of the most important job in the world," Klaus scoffed. "I need to find a certain witch and I need _you_ to help."

"Well, I'm trying to get in touch with the woman I don't know who my babysitter dropped my son off with. I'm sure as a father yourself, you can understand that knowing my son is safe is more important than whatever witch you need found." Klaus was torn for all of about 3 seconds. On the one hand, this was about the Hollow and his daughter's safety. On the other, he did know what that was like. He had felt that need to know his child was safe every lucid moment he'd had for the past 5 years.

"Call whoever you need to," he said. "But after that, I need you to help me find the Hollow's minion in our midst." Joel nodded. "Who's he with?"

"Josh said he was with Hayley and Hope," he said as he typed in the number Josh had given him.

"Hayley left Hope with Mary." Joel stopped before turning and looking at him.

"What?"

"She left Hope with Hayley's husbands grandmother, Mary." Joel scowled and pressed the call button. A female voice answered.

"I'm kind of busy."

"Yes, but apparently you're not busy looking after my son," he said, still scowling.

"Who is this?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Joel Goran. The one who's soon Josh stopped off with you and now Klaus is telling me that you're _not_ looking after _either_ of our kids. Where. Is. My. Son?" Silence came from the other end of the phone, Joel watching somewhat impatiently with Klaus behind him, looking amused.

"He's in the bayou, with my friend, Mary. He's perfectly fine."

"My son… is in a swamp." Klaus burst out laughing before Joel shot him a glare. He quieted down a bit, still grinning from amusement.

"He's fine."

"A _swamp!"_

"He's fine! Mary's been babysitting Hope on and off for the past 5 years, she knows what to do!"

"Give me her number." Hayley sighed and reeled it off before Joel hung up on her and started typing in Mary's number.

"Just remember to look for the witch who is an accomplice to the Hollow when you're done here," Klaus told him. "If I'm remembering correctly, the Hollow almost took your son as one of her sacrifices before we stopped it. Now it's time to stop it for good." Klaus walked away to find Vincent as Joel pressed the dial button.

-TO/SH-

Josh approached Vincent.

"Hey. Stiff drinks, hot waiters, seems like a cool shindig," he started off casually. "No what I could _really_ use?"

"Any word at all from Marcel Gerard," Vincent said with a sigh.

"Bingo. I was going to look into that with the help of a, Uh, certain homicidal supermodel, not that she's giving me much of a choice. You got a plan?"

"I'm not going around shaking hands with everyone for no reason," Vincent told him. "I've got to go find Klaus."

"You're working with Klaus?!"

"I've kinda got no choice, man! It's this, or the Hollow starts killing everyone." With that he went to find Klaus. He found him a few minutes later. "Nice speech." Klaus turned to face him. "Nice speech, but I don't think anybody believed it."

"Well your concern has been duly noted. Now why don't you go back to making friends so that we can find out which of these freeloaders is working for the Hollow." Vincent scoffed.

"And while I'm doing that, are you going to be doing anything?"

"Of course. I'm going to be playing host and checking on whether or not my _other_ witch had found anything."

-TO/SH-

Joel got off the phone after telling Mary everything she needed to know, and got started on finding the Hollow's priest as he went back into the main room where the party was being held. He stood against the wall, drinking from his champagne glass. Occasionally, servers would approach him with a glass of blood and he would have to hold himself back from being sarcastic and snarky, reminding himself that he _did_ actually look like a particular Vampire and therefore people would mistake him for one.

His mind reached across the room, looking for anything or anyone connected to the Hollow. His head tilted to the side as he heard someone's plan. He searched for Klaus's mind, finding the Hybrid quickly.

" _Blonde, by the stairs_ ," he said. " _He's the priest of the Hollow._ " He barely contained a laugh as the Original's head snapped up, looking around in surprise. " _Don't look so surprised, you knew my magic is based in my mind, of course I would be able to do this._ " Klaus met his eyes from across the room and Joel tilted his head slightly in the priest's direction. He saw Klaus look in that direction just as Vincent pointed him out and left the courtyard. After a few minutes, he came across a room with the door slightly ajar. He pushed it further open to see two witches in front of a safe.

"Gentlemen. Shall we discuss why this isn't in your best interests?" Joel said, channeling his inner Elijah, and announcing himself to the Hollow's followers. 2 minutes later saw two witches leave the Mikaelson compound with no memory of how they got there or what they were doing, or even that the Hollow existed at all. An hour later saw Klaus storm into the room with Elijah and Hayley behind him only to stop short at the sight of Joel sitting on one of the chairs putting his phone away after checking up on Luke and asking the wolf babysitting him to bring him to the compound he was in now so that he could bring him home. He looked up.

"You know, when there's a volatile evil witch spirit trying to come back to life and kill everyone, maybe you _shouldn't_ leave one of the bones she needs to come back to life alone where anyone could get to it," he said, waving his hand at them, which held the bone blade of Papa Tunde.

 **So you're a** ** _two_** **witch kind of guy? Joel doesn't usually have much of an inner Elijah to channel, but part of me couldn't help myself, so there it is. So I know this isn't an episode and a half, but I've been pretty busy, and you guys deserve chapters. Sorry again, about how late this is…. And I'm sorry it's so short...**

 **Review please?**

 **\- Kyrian Mikaelson**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or the Originals, because if I did Elijah, Klaus, and Joel would never have died.**

 **And here's Chapter 12. I did mean to post this yesterday, but it's a bit late, sorry about that, but at least it's not three weeks. Hope you enjoy**

Chapter 12

Joel watched Luke sit at a table with Hope. The 5 year old had insisted that they stay for a few hours so that he and Hope could talk more. He had half a mind to call Josh and get him to babysit them after giving bother children more sugar than either had ever seen in their lives as payback for 1) giving Luke too much sugar all those times, and 2) giving Luke to someone else in order to go to a party held by people he hated _without even telling him_. Then he remembered the reason he wanted payback was because Josh had given his son to a woman he didn't know whilst babysitting. He watched the two talk whilst painting.

"Dad! Paint with us!" Luke exclaimed, with an excited look in his eyes.

"Luke," he started before being interrupted.

"Pleeeeaaaaassse?" Joel sighed as his 5 year old gave him puppy dog eyes before going over and sitting on the third chair at the table.

"What are we painting today then, oh masters?" he asked as Hope placed a new sheet of paper in front of him.

"You don't have to paint," Hope told him. "You can just draw of you like. It can be whatever you like."

10 minutes later, Hayley and Freya walked into the room to see the two children giggling at the adult who was pouting comically at the two. Hayley and Freya shared a confused look. Joel looked up and saw them in the doorway.

"Ladies! Children are cruel, cruel people! They don't like my drawing! They're telling me it's awful! What do you think?" He held up a piece of paper and Freya bit her lip, holding in a laugh and Hayley snorted in amusement. He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"You drew stick figures," Hayley said with a smirk. "It's not exactly impressive."

"Well that's a shame," Joel said sincerely. "Because that one in the middle is you." With that last part, he grinned. Hayley gaped and Freya finally burst out laughing, clutching her sides. Hayley narrowed her eyes.

"Is that one lying on the floor you?" she asked sweetly. Joel turned it around and took a look before looking back at her.

"There isn't one on the floor."

"There will be." Joel smirked at her before turning back to the kids.

"I told you Mom would agree," Hope said simply. Joel pouted slightly before looking at Luke who just giggled and continued painting his own picture.

"Oh alright," Joel said, sighing dramatically. "I give up. I'm no good at drawing." Hope studied him for a minute before nodding once decisively.

"Good. You can admit your own faults." Joel blinked, looking at her, opened his mouth, before closing it again. Hayley snickered and Freya started laughing again after having just recovered from her last bout of laughter. Hayley thought she might have heard him mutter about little girls being mean.

"Well I think it's time for us to go home now, Luke." Immediately Luke started protesting. "Luke, you've got school in the morning, we've got to go home so that you can sleep. And I've got work as well."

"I didn't think you had a job?" Hayley said, brow furrowing.

"That's because over the last 7-8 years you've been around people who's only job seems to be pissing each other off," he said casually before continuing the conversation between him and Luke. "I promise you that if you do as you're told, you can come back on Friday, and maybe you can bring Amelia with you." Luke immediately started packing his toys which had been abandoned in the corner into his backpack and then looked attentively at his father. "OK, let's go. Friday's alright with you guys, right?" he asked just as Klaus came in with Elijah.

"Alright for what?" he asked.

"Play date," Freya answered. "Luke didn't want to leave so Joel promised him he could come back on Friday." Klaus shrugged slightly.

"It shouldn't be a problem. We'll have our little Hollow problem sorted by then," he said confidently.

"Don't get cocky," Joel warned. "This thing is older than even _you,_ gramps." Klaus narrowed his eyes at him as he smirked and Elijah's eyebrows climbed up his forehead, hiding a smirk of his own.

-TO/SH-

Joel walked out of the OR after a successful surgery with a grin on his face. Now he got to tell the 15 year old girl's parents that their daughter wouldn't be paralyzed for the rest of her life. She'd been raining for a gymnastics tournament went she fell, but he'd fixed the damage so she'd be back on her feet soon. The parents, Mr and Mrs James, had thanked him profusely before going to their daughter's room where she was being taken to rest after the surgery. Then he saw Josh standing at the nurses station and sighed, walking over.

"Joel, hey," Josh greeted him with a smile. Joel shot him a look before gesturing for him to follow. They went into the break room and Joel turned to face him, arms crossed, waiting.

"I need help with Marcel."

"I'm sorry, Joel, for leaving your son with a woman you don't know and probably hates me for siding with the man who almost killed her daughter's family 5 years ago. Oh, that's OK, just run it by me next time. Yeah. No. Not cool dude." Josh winced slightly, before nodding.

"I know, that wasn't cool, man, but I needed to be at that party!"

"Really? Because when we spoke on the phone, you had _absolutely no intentions_ on going to that party! Then, I leave Luke with you, and what do I find? You've left him with some woman I don't know in order to go to some party!"

"Well I _was_ kind of being blackmailed by a homicidal supermodel at the time! Look, I'm sorry I left Luke with Hayley, but I kind of didn't have a choice!"

"Just like you," came a new voice from the doorway. Both guys turned to see a certain blonde homicidal supermodel standing there. "You're going to help me get Marcel back, or I'm going to tear you and everyone you love into pieces so small, they'll still be finding parts of you in 1000 years."

"Seriously?!" Josh exclaimed. "Now you're _following_ me?! _And_ threatening my friend?!"

 _"Sofya,"_ he said slowly, studying her. "I honestly don't think you can do a thing against me, or those I love." The vampire narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't test me," she hissed at him as she suddenly had him up against the wall, hand tightening around his throat. Josh rushed forwards, protesting. Sofya pushed him away into the back wall, causing him to land with a crash. "Now, you're going to help me get Marcel from the Mikaelsons."

"Darling, at the end of the day, you won't even _remember_ the Mikaelsons." She sneered at him and tightened her grip on his throat before suddenly releasing him.

"You, come with me." She walked off out of the room. The guys looked at each other.

"Is she serious?!"

"Probably best to assume she is and go after her."

"What?! No!" Joel protested. "You may have nothing better to do at the moment, but I have work! You know, mending bones, life saving surgeries, I can't just leave! And, more importantly, I don't _want_ to! This guy she wants me to save doesn't even _like_ me, _and_ he tried making a 2 year old girl an orphan, why would I try to help a 'homicidal supermodel' free an _even more_ homicidal 'king'?!"

"Uh, because if you don't she'll kill you and Luke?" Joel scowled.

"She won't be able to _get_ to Luke."

"Well, Marcel _is_ my friend, so yes, I would like him _back_ from your homicidal 1000 year old vampire/witch/werewolf family, so do you have any better ideas?"

"Yes," he said. "Let him serve his time, it's like if someone gets caught attempting murder. They get caught, they do time. Marcel's not going to be where he is forever. And as for Sofya? She thinks a long trip to Hawaii is due. Now, I need to get back to work. I'll talk to you later, OK?" Without another word, Joel turned and got back to work, leaving Josh in the break room which he was promptly kicked out of as it was for staff only. Josh sighed and went back to his bar. He turned after a few minutes to see Freya there.

"I need a vampire for a spell. You just volunteered."

' _What is it with me and the creepy, sometimes homicidal, blondes_?' he asked himself incredulously.

-TO/SH-

Hope snuck downstairs into the set of tunnels her parents didn't even know she knew about and walked for 5 minutes until she saw a man trapped in a boundary spell pacing. He stopped before turning towards her.

"I think this belongs to you," Hope said, holding out a little toy soldier.

"Hope." She threw the old toy soldier across the barrier and he caught it easily. "I haven't seen this in a century," he said looking at the toy soldier, turning it in his hand. Why had Klaus kept this?

"So, you're the little boy who used to live in my house?" she asked curiously as she watched him.

"Once, a long time ago, I lived he with your dad," he admitted, still looking at the toy.

"He keeps you locked down here because he thinks you want to kill him," she said, getting to the point. "Do you?" He looked at her.

"Listen, I will tell you _everything_ you want to know, if you get me some blood from your dad's stash."

"I'm _7_ , not _stupid."_

"Right. You're also pretty courageous. Coming down here and talking to a stranger."

"I'm not scared," Hope said, cheerfully, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm a Mikaelson witch."

"I'll tell you what," he started, kneeling down so that he was at her height. "Let's start fresh. It is very nice to see you again, Hope Mikaelson. I'm Marcel. I'm surprised your parents haven't stormed down here looking for you."

"My Mom trusts me," Hope said with another shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah, but your dad never trusted anyone in his life," he retorted. Hope frowned a little bit.

"If he took care of you when you were little, why do you hate him so much? What did he do to you?"

"Your dad raised me," Marcel started. "He made me who I am. Now, you ask me if I hate him? You can't hate the one who made you who you are. You just end up hating yourself. The truth is, I wish I could hate your dad, but... You can't hate someone you've loved for so long." They talked for about 10 minutes for she stopped suddenly.

"There's something wrong. I have to go." She got to her feet.

"Hope, wait!" Marcel said. "Hope, it's not safe. I need you to get me out of this circle."

"I can't, my Dad will be mad!"

"No, he won't. I'll keep you safe." He could hear people upstairs, and he was sure Hope could sense them with her magic.

"I can protect myself, and my Mom and Dad. I'm strong enough to stop the bad guys, I'm stronger than _anybody_ thinks!" She turned to leave.

"Wait Hope! I know you're strong. That's how I know you can get me out of here. I need you to trust me right now. Your dad rescued me. He raised me, and I knew your mom when she was a baby. We're family, what does your mommy say about family?"

"We stick together, always and forever."

"That's right." They both heard as a man's voice shouted out to others. "I need you to trust me, OK?" She took off her bracelet and used her magic to undo the spell keeping him where he was and he took her hand, pulling her into a hug as people came in. "Now, I want you to close your eyes, and sing."

 **And there's the end of the chapter. Don't forget to leave a review, guys, I'd love to know what you all think.**

 **\- Kyrian Mikaelson**


End file.
